Sydney’s Convict History

While foreigners, and locals, joke that Australia
was founded by nothing more than a bunch of convicts, the truth of the
matter remains that British officials chose the distant and remote land
of Sydney to act as a penal colony in its earliest days. The first fleet of settlers to New South Wales
came in 1788 with over 1,000 individuals – 778 of which were convicts,
both male and female. Development was slow initially, but eventually
roles were assigned to prisoners that focused on the proper building of
the colony itself, such as brick makers and brick layers.